Asymmetry

The pose in this piece is quite symmetrical, usually a surefire way to make an image feel static or boring, so to counter this I’m emphasising the tilt to his body slightly more, as well as keeping the expression uneven. It’s a good idea to check the image in reverse, particularly at this early stage, just to make sure things are balanced convincingly and not some optical bias.

Work that body

Now all but the finest details on the face are done, I start to block in the body, painting directly on the Mr Beefcake layer. As the drawing I am working over is quite undefined, this involves clarifying the muscle groups and some fine-tuning of proportions. The palette is fairly limited at this stage, with only a basic acknowledgement of the character’s environment.